Cabinet yesterday for a second time extended a repayment deadline on $49.2 billion worth of interest-free pandemic loans for small business. Loans originally due December 31: “The government has failed to address the most critical issue.”
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault has settled a five-figure debt for unpaid taxes. Guilbeault as a member of cabinet is paid $287,400 a year plus a $2,000 car allowance: ““I no longer have arrears due Revenu Québec.”
Home prices everywhere are far too high and “cannot continue to go up,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said yesterday. He did not elaborate: “Does that mean you would like house prices to come down?”
Parliament should abolish $76 billion real estate investment trusts and consider “other tax measures to curb financialization of housing,” says a report by the Federal Housing Advocate. Cabinet yesterday did not comment on the report but ruled out any tax on home equity: “It would be political suicide.”
Barely a quarter of Canadians surveyed have a high opinion of the CRTC, says in-house research. A decline in the agency’s “favourability rating” coincided with new legislation granting it unprecedented powers to regulate the internet: “What is your impression of the CRTC?”
Show business is hardscrabble and unpredictable but still deserving of legitimate deductions, Tax Court has ruled. The decision came in the case of Chantal Preston, a singer and songwriter whose manager’s deductions were denied by the Canada Revenue Agency: “The Minister of National Revenue did not agree.”
Cabinet yesterday signaled it will extend a soon-to-expire $595 million temporary bailout for newspapers. Press lobbyist Bob Cox, who won subsidies on a promise “you can’t give them forever,” was appointed to a bailout review panel that will now run into 2025: “I don’t like the idea of a long-term subsidy for newspapers that becomes permanent.”
Canada must follow U.S. Customs in restricting the import of slave-made goods from China, Conservative MP Michael Chong (Wellington-Halton Hills, Ont.) yesterday told a committee of the United States Congress. Canada “can’t be the place” where Chinese manufacturers export the products of slavery, he said: “We have yet to seize one shipment.”
Elections Commissioner Caroline Simard yesterday in her Annual Report to Parliament omitted all mention of “China” in updating investigations of alleged election fraud by foreign agents. Simard earlier dismissed 116 complaints of alleged interference prior to the May 8 expulsion of a Chinese spy: “It is clear the issue of foreign interference weighs heavily on Canadians’ trust.”
Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne yesterday dismissed Budget Office figures showing he misled taxpayers on recovery of green technology subsidies. Billions for electric car makers remain “good deals for Canadians,” said Champagne: “We’re in the big leagues.”
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault yesterday had no comment after agreeing to a $20,000 free speech settlement with Rebel News Network. Guilbeault blocked the news outlet and its publisher Ezra Levant on his official Twitter account: “Guilbeault hates Rebel News because he can’t control us.”
The CBC now has 144 corporate directors paid six-figure salaries, according to Access To Information records. The Crown broadcaster had complained of “immense pressure” on its finances due to the pandemic: “Extraordinary times require extraordinary measures.”
In-house Elections Canada research shows 13 percent of voters think federal elections are unfair due in part to suspected meddling by foreign agents. More than a quarter, 27 percent, believe voting is “prone to fraud” in Canada: “How much confidence if any do you have?”
A quarter of mortgage holders, 24 percent, are having difficulty keeping up with monthly debt payments, says CMHC data. And barely half said they expect the value of their home to grow over the next year: “Perceptions are at their lowest.”
Not all side effects or “adverse events” from Covid shots were documented by the Public Health Agency, says a federal report. The Agency said it did not expect every incident to be detailed since vaccines typically undergo “rigorous testing for safety.”
